Here Comes The Son
by sillygirl8406
Summary: A young college student shakes up the life of the CSI's most specifically Grissom & Sara, as his identity is revealed. My first fanfic. Last chapter is up!
1. Default Chapter

The sun had just settled over the Nevada horizon as Anna Davis's black 1998 Sedan came to a halt on I-15. She was a little more than 7 miles from the nearest exit where she was trying so desperately to get to before her car ran out of gas. She cursed the car under her breath as it stopped. On her way to Las Vegas she only seen about a hand full of cars pass her in both directions, not one passed in the last ten minutes. She checked in her rearview mirror and watched as her son, Riley Davis, was sleeping in the back seat. He didn't look like her at all. He had dark hair and blue eyes as opposed to her blond hair and green eyes, just like his father she thought. He had just turned twenty-one years old three months ago and now in the back seat he was drunk and passed out. She cursed him too. Never in a thousand years had she wanted a son who was a drunk, but she knew that she and her ex-husband had all the credit in making him one. To this day Riley still wears nothing but long sleeve shirts to cover his bruises. A tear started to trail down Anna's face as she watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful and sweet, just like when he was a baby. She shut her eyes and remembered the argument they had not more than an hour ago. He said that he hated her for not getting him away from her ex-husband, Jake, and not let him live his life with his real father. She hated herself for it, but she loved Jake, and she didn't want Riley to be like his real father. But her decisions ultimately caused her son to be a depressed drunk and worse it caused him to hate her. So she gave in and decided that Riley needed to meet his father and to find another life outside the one she gave him. That's why she was coming to Vegas, to let them two finally know each other. But she was scared too, his father had no idea he existed and she was afraid of how he would react.

Anna was snapped out of thoughts as she seen a truck coming down the interstate. She was so relieved. She didn't want to wake up Riley, he would have been angry and resentful, so when she seen the truck pull over in front of her car she was thankful for the help. She got out of the car and walked to the front of her car. The driver of the truck got out and looked at her.

"Are you alright, need any help?"

Anna replied "Yes, thank you so much. My car ran out of gas."

He smiled at her "Well, I can go to the next exit and get some gas for you. I don't have a can though so I'll need yours."

She smiled at him "Thank you so much." She turned around and got the keys out of the car and walked to the back of the car. That was the last thing she ever did.

Riley woke up in the back seat. He stretched and yawned then laid still for a moment to try to clear his head. "Mom." He said as he rubbed his eyes to wake fully up. When he didn't hear her answer he bolted up and looked around. Nothing. Not a single thing could be seen beyond his car window. He opened the door and stepped out. The cold hit his face and he was a little surprised about how cold it got in Nevada at night. He looked around and didn't see a single thing, not even the landscape that was right in front of him. He sighed and turned back towards the car. He looked in and saw that the keys were on the front seat. He got in and started the car. _Just as I suspected, out of gas_. He took the keys out and went to the trunk and opened it, the gas can was gone too. He slammed the trunk door shut and walked to the front of the car. He could tell he was still drunk and he wanted to lay back down but something told him he had to find his mom. He couldn't believe that she would just leave on her own and not told him. He knew that he would have been pissed off if she woke him up but she still would have done it so that he wouldn't worry. He leaned himself against the front of the car and looked out down the road, or what he suspected was the direction of the road, to see if he could see any headlights. When he was tired of looking out in nothing he put his head down. He was about to just go back inside the car and lay down but something on the dirt made him stay. He kneeled down and looked closer, tire marks and they're new. He knew forensics and could recognize fresh tire marks anywhere. He stood up and went to get his flashlight out of the trunk. He came back and flicked it on and looked at the dirt in front of his car. The tire marks were indeed fresh and from the spacing between the two front and the two back tires he could tell it had been a truck that pulled up, then out. He looked to find foot prints, most importantly his mom's. He remembered the shoes she wore in the car, flip-flops. He spotted the design of her shoes on the ground by the truck and on the side that the passenger door would be. Riley took a long breath, _she got into someone's truck, someone's truck that she didn't know_. A million things went through his head as to why his mom wasn't there. He hoped it wasn't the one that ended in him never seeing her again. He got into the passenger side of the car and opened the glove compartment. He grabbed out a piece of paper and pen and wrote a note just in case: 'Mom, If you get back and I'm not here, go to the next exit that's where I'll be.' As he put the note down on the drivers seat along with the keys he hoped that she would be back. He then remembered that he had a camera in his bag. He reached over to the floor behind the driver seat and opened his bag. He pulled out a 35mm camera with a zoom lens. He walked to the front off the car and started taking pictures. He knew if the wind continued to blow like it was that soon the tire marks and shoe prints would be gone. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill and placed in next to the shoe prints for measurement. He studied and remembered forensics too well it came second nature to him even if he was still intoxicated. After he was satisfied with the photos he took he started walking towards the next exit on the opposite side of the road just in case someone drivers by back towards the direction of his car. If they do they'll see him and he hoped his mom would be them.

Gil Grissom was sitting in his office going over paper work. There was not much going on tonight or for the last couple of nights actually so it gave the nightshift supervisor time to catch up on his paper work. He was staring at the piles of paper work on his desk when his phone rang.

He reached down and answered it while at the same time taking off his glasses, "Grissom...okay, I'll be right there." He gets up and walks out of his office. He knows that Warrick and Catherine are at a crime scene, a robbery at a gas station, and Nick has the night off. He searches for his only remaining CSI, Sara Sidle, and he finds her in the break room. Sara had just finished up some last minute work and just started to read a magazine over a cup of coffee when Grissom walked in.

"Hey Sara," She glanced up at him from behind her magazine.

"Yeah."

"We got a db off I-15."

She quickly jumped up with a grin on her face, _thank god_, _one more minute of this excitement and I'd have to contemplate suicide._ "Let's go!"

Grissom's Tahoe pulled up behind a police car and Sara and Grissom got out along with their field kits. Grissom walks over to Brass who's talking with the officer on the scene.

"Gil, this is Officer Thomas. He was the one that discovered the body." Brass points pass the black 98' Sedan, out in the middle of somewhere between Mesquite and Glendale. Grissom followed Brass's hand and walked pass the car and out into the dessert of Clark County, watching his steps every step of the way. He finally seen what he was called out here for. A female body, about 40-50 years of age was left for dead. The site of the body was all to familiar to him. He'd seen it all before, but for some reason when he looked at her eyes staring up at him he could have sworn he seen those eyes before.

Sara walked slowly up behind him careful to follow the same path he took and looked over his shoulder at the blond hair green eye woman that was spread out before them.

"The name on the registration belongs to a man, 21 year old Riley Davis." Grissom looked up at her with a eyebrow raised. "So, where's Mr. Davis?" Sara had a grin forming over her face. "In jail." Again Gil raised a brow. Sara couldn't help but laugh. "Brass said that a guy, Riley Davis stumbled into the Glendale gas station 7 miles down the road. Ranting and raving about his mom and trying to find her. Just as he was about to go all crazy on the guy that worked there he collapsed. The guy called the police and a Officer Morgan came and got him, arrested for PI. That's when Mr. Davis told the officer about the car and his mom being missing, so Morgan called Thomas who came out and found the mother." Gil just looked at her and listened to her fill him in then he finally spoke, "So, do you think her son did it?" Sara just grinned, "Lets see what the evidence says." Now it was Gil's turn to smile, "That's my girl." with a half sarcastic tone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I forgot to do this the first time, but anyway, I don't own any of CSI or it's characters. I do however own the Davis family, and the 1998 Sedan, and half of Vegas...just kidding.

**Spoilers**: None that I can think of.

**Author note**: Please submit reviews! That's all.

"Okay Sara, you process the body and the surrounding area while I take the car and road." And with that Grissom walks back to the car before Sara has time to answer.

Gil spots Brass looking at him from the officers vehicle and walks over to him. "How long until the tow truck gets here?" Brass stares at him for a minute before answering, "About an hour. You going to process the car now?"

"Yeah. After I get done I'll go back to the lab, I would like to be there when you question the Davis kid."

Brass nods his head in agreement' "I thought you would. I'm on my way back there now, I'll leave Officer Thomas here just in case."

"Alright, see you in about an hour."

Grissom walks over to the car watching the ground as he walks, looking for tire or footprints and finds none. He figures as much, the wind was blowing pretty good and the dirt was now all over the place, if there was any tracks at all they're gone now. He starts talking photos of the car, inside and out, multiples of each before he puts the camera down and starts looking for blood or any trace evidence.

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Riley woke up in the last place he thought he'll ever be, inside of a jail cell. He at first couldn't remember a thing. Last night was nothing but a blur and he was shock to find himself here. But as quickly as he forgot he remembered, now his head his pounding and he has tons of questions. The first is if his mom was ever found, and if so, was she alive. He was pacing around the cell when he heard the door down the hall being opened. He looked out the bars and strand his neck to see who was coming. He seen a older man, dark hair and a suit on coming towards him, most definitely a detective. But why, he wondered, was he coming towards him; he was arrested for PI (Public Intoxication), he had no reason to be questioned by a detective.

Jim Brass stopped in front of Riley's cell and smiled at him. "Mr. Davis?"

"That's right."

"We need to ask you some questions regarding earlier this evening."

"I figured so. Do we do we do it here or in the interrogation room?" Riley knew if it was here it was just about the PI and his ruckus with the gas clerk, if it was the interrogation room, it was a lot serious than that.

Brass let out a sigh and a grin, this kid knew a lot about the department procedures, he wondered if he had been arrested before, "Interrogation room." Brass noticed the quick change on Riley's face, it went from curiosity to complete despair.

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Brass and Riley had just settled into the interrogation room when Grissom was walking into the CSI headquarters. He first went to his office to drop off some paper work then to the DNA lab to drop blood samples off to Greg. Sara had the fingerprints and trace evidence so she headed to those areas as Grissom went to find Brass.

Brass had already asked Riley the simple background questions while waiting for Gil to arrive. Gil walked in with his field kit and sat down next to Brass; Brass began the questioning.

"Okay, Riley, lets take in from the top. What happened earlier today?"

Riley took a long breath before he began, he knew that the Detective and CSI wouldn't be in here questioning him if his mother wasn't found, and by the looks of things she was dead. He shook his head to clear it from the fog that was starting to clog his thoughts. Not only was the fog from the terrible emotions growing in him, but also from the apparent hangover that was setting in. He cleared his throat then spoke.

"Um, well, I woke up from my sleep. I fell asleep in the back seat of the car after we left Mesquite. I had been drinking and I got tired so I took a nap. Anyways...then after I woke up I noticed that my mom wasn't there, in the car so I panicked, I mean, she would never take off without telling me. So I got out and looked around for her but it was so dark I couldn't even see more than five feet in front of me. I got back in the car to see if it was empty on gas and it was, then I checked the trunk and the gas can was gone. I remember thinking that she wouldn't have left to go to the gas station all by herself, but it looked that way until I saw the tire marks."

Gil interrupted Riley, "You saw tire marks?"

"Yeah, and shoe prints. I knew my moms because she wore flip-flops and they have a different pattern than shoe prints and I also noticed prints that weren't mine or hers...I took pictures."

"You took pictures?" Gil asked, a little stunned at this kids knowledge of forensics.

"Yeah, the officer who arrested me for PI took it along with everything else I had. So it should be in evidence."

Brass looked at Gil then back at Riley, now a big grin was forming on the two men's faces, "Please continue."

"Well," he had to think for a moment to remember where he left off, "okay, I noticed that the tire marks were from a truck and my mom's shoe print was by the side where the passenger door would be so I figured she must have gotten in and they went to the next exit for gas. Oh and since the wind was blowing kind of hard, the prints had to have been formed in the last 10 minutes or so. So, I wrote a note for my mom just in case they got back and didn't see me walking towards the exit...and...uh, that's it."

Gil and Brass just looked at Riley then back at each other, they didn't really know how to take what Riley had just told them. Gil turned back to Riley and started his questions now. "Mr. Davis..."

"Please, call me Riley."

Gil smirked, "Riley, how do you know about forensics?"

Riley just formed a smirk of his own before answering Grissom's question, "Well, seeing how I'm going to school for it I should know what I'm talking about. That's one of the reasons why I'm coming here."

Gil's jaw almost dropped, "Oh." was all he managed before asking his next question. "What's your other reason?"

"I need was to finally meet my father. My mom was bring me out here to live with him and go to UNLV."

"What's his name?"

"I don't know, I know nothing about him."

"No name, appearance, job?"

"That's right, absolutely nothing."

Finally Riley asked his own question, the one he already knew the answer to, "My mom...she's, dead right?"

Gil looked back over at Brass who gave him a shrug and a "I didn't tell him" look. He turned back to Riley who never took his eyes off him, "Yeah, she is."

Riley just put his head down looking at the table. He knew it, but to hear it actually confirmed torn him apart. He was trying to hold back the tears that was swelling in his eyes. He blinked several times then Jakes words rushed through his head, "Men don't cry you baby, grow up....if you cry one more time I'll give you a reason for it." and a second after he could feel Jake's fist hitting him. Riley shoot up out of his thoughts and looked at Grissom who had been studying him. Gil could tell he was fighting himself from crying. Riley then finally spoke, "God," he tried fighting his tears but he lost they streamed down his face as he continued "I can't believe the last thing I told her was that I hated her." He looked back down at the table, he tears now pouring out of him. Gil and Brass could do nothing except just watch. After several minutes of crying Riley regained control again and wiped the tears way. He looked back over at Grissom and Brass then suddenly said, "You need to process me and get my DNA don't you?" Gil shook his head yes. "Alright, I'll do anything to help you out." With that Gil brought up his field kit and started to process Riley.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the review! Oh, and sorry for some errors, I read over these chapters but I always seem to miss some of them.

Disclaimer: Once again CSI is not mine.

Spoilers: None so far, maybe later chapters.

Grissom walks into the Morgue to observe the autopsy of Anna Davis. Dr. Robbins watches Gil as he walks up to the table. Gil still swears that he has seen her before, but he can't place her. Gil notices that Dr. Robbins has been talking to him and concentrates on what's being said.

"She died of strangulation. She was also beaten in the face, if the strangulation didn't kill her the beating would have."

Gil stares at her face then looks up at him, "The killer wasn't wearing gloves either, Sara found fingerprints around her neck."

"Yeah, I confirm that. I found no foreign material, it had to be bare knuckle."

"Our suspects hands are perfect, no bruising, cuts, nothing."

"I would say your suspect is probably innocent than, unless he has tough as nails skin."

"We'll confirm that once we make sure that his prints don't match the prints found on the body. Anything else?"

"None I've seen so far, after I do a whole autopsy I'll know if there is anything else."

Grissom turns back around and out the door. He walks straight to where Sara's at matching fingerprints. "Hey Sara, got anything?"

"Yeah, but you're not going to like it, our suspect is no longer a suspect...his prints don't match."

"Well, that confirms what I have too." Sara and Gil both look up and notice Greg Sanders standing at the door. "The swabs of the victim shows her DNA and a foreign DNA which I compared to the suspects, not his."

"Well," Gil said after a minute of thinking, "I guess now we can use the scene evidence he got us than."

Sara looks at Grissom confused, what evidence is he talking about, "What?"

Grissom just smiles at her, "Our now innocent suspect is a CSI of his own apparently, he's going to school to be one; anyways he took photos of the tire marks and foot prints that were on the ground in front of his car, until the wind blew it away."

"Are you telling me we have crime scene photos taken by a suspect and we're going to use them?"

"Why not, he said we could."

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Grissom is sitting at his desk going over some paper work that Catherine and Warrick brought to him after they finished the robbery case, apparently the clerk was behind it and confess after only hours of being questioned by an officer at the scene. He was startled by the sound of knocking at his door, he looked up to see Sara or any other CSI but instead was looking at Riley Davis. "What are you doing here?" with eyebrows raised and a confused looked on his face.

Now seeming shy and reserved unlike earlier when he was anything but, Riley spoke to Gil, "I was wondering if you have my camera?"

Finally Gil realized what the young guy was talking about, "Oh, that, we are developing the photos now. I should be able to give it back to you after shift."

"No rush, I just thought that maybe you were done with it already. Um, Mr., I don't think I ever got your name?"

"Gil Grissom."

"Mr. Grissom, could I ask you a for something?"

Now Gil was dumbfounded, what did this guy want, "Depends."

"I just need to ask if you could try to find out who my father is. I know it's not what you do, but when you're going through my mom's things and trying to find out who killed her, if you come across information that could possibly lead to who he is could you let me know."

Grissom thought about this for a moment, the possibility of Gil finding anything out about his father is highly possible, "Sure, if I find anything I'll let you know."

A huge smile spread across Riley's face, "Thank you so much for everything, Mr. Grissom. Not just this but for my mom too."

Grissom nodded at him. Riley just nodded back and turned around to leave then remembered something, "Oh yeah, uh, here is my cell phone number, you can call anytime, I'll answer it."

Grissom took the paper and looked at it then back at Riley who was already out the door and...lost. Riley couldn't figure out which way the front doors were. Grissom just laughed under his breath, for a future CSI Riley couldn't find his way out of a building, "Go to your left."

Riley turned and looked at Gil, a little embarrassed, "Thanks."

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Riley has finally found the hall that leads to the front doors, and a very beautiful woman walking his way. _Oh, is she beautiful...those brown eyes and the way her brown hair sways and curls just above her shoulders, stop it, you're making her stare at you...she smiled at me when she past...damn, and her backside is...perf...door!_ "Shit!"

Sara heard a yell come behind her and turns around. Leaning against the wall and covering half his face was the guy who was checking her out just seconds before. She couldn't help but laugh at him while she walked towards him. "Are you ok?" She managed to say between her giggling.

Riley just looked over at her, blushing and embarrassed, he can't believe he just ran into the door. "Yeah, I'm ok...you're a very dangerous woman."

Sara just laughed, "How so?" she wondered while looking at the incredibly cute guy who hit a door because of her.

"Well, you're too beautiful to not look at, causing men like me to get into some serious accidents evolving..." looking at the door he just smacked into, "doors."

Sara's only response was a smile and more giggling.

Riley finally took his hand from his face and extended it to shack Sara's, "I'm Riley."

Sara shacking hands, "Riley Davis?"

"Yeah," _She knows my name?_, "who are you?"

"Sara, Sara Sidle, I'm working your case."

"Oh, ok. So you and Mr. Grissom are working together then."

"That's right. So, um, anyways I should be getting back; I have your photos and I need to go over them."

"Great, I hope they help you guys." _I can't let her go just yet I could ask her out, I have to at lest try,_ "Uh, this may sound stupid, but...would you like to get something to eat with me sometime?"

Sara couldn't believe it, she didn't know what to say. _He's a former suspect in my case, but something about his eyes,_ _those gorgeous blue eyes of his are just to adorable to pass up, and he did just ran into a door from staring at me,_ before she knew it the words had already come out her mouth, "Yeah sure."

Riley face grew into one big smile as he looked at her, "Great, uh," reaching into his back pocket he pulled out his wallet and opened it up and out came a card with his information on it, "my cell number is one this card. It used to be my business card from my work but not anymore. When ever you want to go just give me a call."

"Sure, ok."

Then with exchanged smiles and nods Riley left and Sara continued on her way to Grissom's office.

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Grissom was still in his office when Sara got there. She knocked on the doorframe as she walked in a sat down in the chair in front of his desk. Gil looked up at her and raised an eyebrow, he had a question..._why was she smiling like that?_ Before he could say anything Sara answered it, "I meet Riley Davis just now."

Gil giving a half smirk just looked at her, "He's a harmless kid."

Sara had a smirk of her own, "Yeah, tell that to the door he hit."

Now Gil was confused and Sara could see it, "What?"

"The future CSI ran into the door on his way out. And I was to blame apparently."

"Who so?" He was now even more confused.

Sara just gave him a smile "Well, he was looking at me when he ran into, and from his own words I'm a danger to men." She can't tell him about Riley asking her out, Grissom would freak, it's better he didn't know, _if the first date goes good and I want to see him again then I'll tell Gil, but if we decide it wasn't going anywhere then he'll never have to know._

Grissom just sat there and looked at he, _well, I can't argue with that Sara does make me almost run into walls too. _"He got lost today. He came by to see if I had his camera and when he walked out he didn't know where to go. He looked very confused until I told him which direction to go."

They both giggled at that, Sara could just imagine Riley's confused face. Just then they were straddled by a knock on the door and Catherine's voice. "Hey Grissom, Sara, what's the laughing about?"

Gil looked up at her as she walked to his desk and sat in the other chair, "Nothing, what's going on?

"Well, Warrick already left and I don't have nothing to do. Tonight has just be too dull around here."

"Why did Warrick leave? We still have an hour and a half until shifts over."

Catherine just stared at him, _he can be so forgetful sometimes_, "Remember he has to drive up to Carson City...testify at a trial..."

"Oh right, I forgot. Well, I guess you can help us out. You can start going through the evidence that was in the car and Sara can take a look at those crime scene photos. I'll stay here and try to find any information about the victim."

Catherine and Sara got up and went their separate ways. Grissom stayed in his office and turned to his computer. He had gotten all the information about Anna from her drivers license and he was very lucky to also find her social security card as well, most people don't carry it around with them. He typed in the number and waited for her information to come up. Then there it was on his screen, bate of birth, mother and fathers name, her maiden name..., _oh shit, I do know her. Wait, there could be thousands of Elizabeth Anna Walters, but...she use to live in Vegas, address...oh shit. No, no, no, this cannot be her. My ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Anna. It's been what, 22 yea...Riley, is he...mine._ He reached for his phone a called Brass, he could no longer be on this case, he knew the victim.

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

Catherine is searching through Riley's car. She is almost done and decides to look through the glove compartment. _Registration, insurance papers, bunch of junk papers...a receipt from Golden West Restaurant-Casino, from last night. This could be important..._

"Catherine what'd got?" Sara asks as she leans over the driver door looking in at Catherine.

"A receipt from last night." Catherine looks up at Sara, "They stopped in Mesquite before driving here?"

"Yeah, could be important."

"It's the last place the victim was alive. What about the photos Mr. Davis took?"

"He's a good shot. Perfect pictures, measurement and everything, if we find another suspect with a truck we could definitely match tire tracks and footprints."

"At least we got something to go on. Get any hits on what kind of truck it is?"

"No, tires were Goodyear, good enough for any truck."

"Well, I went through the whole car and it's contents. Only break I got was the receipt. Bags just had clothes and personal items. Purses and wallet Grissom already looked through. Not much else."

"Any fingerprints or blood?"

"No blood, but I got fingerprints that I'm sure will match the victim and her son." Catherine stands up and looks over at Sara, "I say we take a trip. You up for breakfast at the Golden West?"

"Only if you're buying."

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"Hey Gil. What's the emergency?" Brass walks into Grissom's office and starts to sit down in the chair opposite Grissom.

"Could you shut the door, please?" Gil motions with his hand for Brass to shut the door.

Brass turns and shut the door then sits down in the chair. He lets out a sigh and waits for Gil to start talking, something that is taking him forever to do.

After about two minuets Gil finally looks up at Brass, "I going to remove myself for the Davis case."

"Why?"

"I know the victim."

Brass is interested now and leans forward in the chair his arms now folded on Grissom's desk, "What are you sure?"

"Her birth name is Elizabeth Anna Walters. She and I were together for a little over three years until..."

"Until what?" Brass is now very interested in what Gil has to say.

"Until she just...left out of nowhere. I came home one day and she was gone."

"No explanation, just, gone?"

"Well, she did call about...three months later to say she was ok. I wasn't home, it was on my machine."

"She dumped you huh. Wow, what did you do?"

Gil raises an eyebrow at him, "What makes you think I did something?"

"Come on Gil, three years, what did you do to make her take off?"

"I did nothing."

"Figures."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means you were you. You were gone at work all the time, didn't open up to her..."

"Get out."

"Brass stands and starts laughing, "You know Gil, I'm not surprised she left."

"Now!"

"Temper temper." He starts to leave but stops at the door then looks back at Gil, "So, what are you going to do?"

"Well, I told Riley that I'll find his father for him. So, I guess I'll work that."

"A missing person case?"

"Yeah, in a way it is I guess."

"See ya Gil. Oh, you know I was just teasing you, right."

Gil just gives him a smirk and nod. Brass turns to leave and runs into Catherine, "Hey Cath."

"Jim," She looks at him smiling and giggling "What's so funny?"

"Oh, Gil's having problems." He says over his shoulder as he starts down the hall towards his office.

Catherine goes into his office and sits down, looking over at Gil. He looks up at her and sees the smile on her face, "What?"

"Having problems are we?"

"Yes, and his name is Jim Brass."

She just looks at him, "Teasing you again. And without me here, how inconsiderate of him."

Gil shoots her a angry glare and Catherine can't hold back her amusement and curiosity anymore. She starts laughing and manages to ask him her question, "So what is it this time?"

"I'm off the case."

She stops laughing and now very serious, "Why?"

"I know the victim."

"Oh, is that what Jim's laughing about?"

"That and there's more."

"Oh...you dated her?"

"Three years."

"I'm sorry Gil. Was it serious?"

"I thought it was, until I came home and she was gone."

"Ouch, sorry again. So, you got another case, or just paperwork?"

"Missing person. Riley Davis wants me to find his father, so I'll do that."

"Good luck. With no information about him that'll be..." She stops and looks at him.

"What?"

"How long ago...?"

"Cath, I know that look..."

"Gil, Riley could be yours. I walked past the interrogation room when you and Brass was talking to him; I know what he looks like: dark hair, blue eyes, nothing like his mother."

"Just stop, I already thought about it."

"And?"

"And...it's possible. Could be the reason why she left like she did."

"What are you going to do if he's yours?"

"I, don't know. If he is I'll have to tell him and see what he wants to do about it. I mean, I don't. He's 21, I can't exactly take him to a ball game or out for ice cream and every things will be fine."

"No kidding." Catherine gets up. "Well, I have to go to Mesquite. Seems that's the last place they were at. I guess I'll give you a call later. Oh, and if you need any advice, parenting wise, give me a call."

"If I need curfew times and how much for allowance a week I'll let you know."

Catherine shakes a figure at him then leaves. Gil sits looking at the door. He finally stands up and heads towards the DNA lab. He left Greg a sample of his DNA to compare with Riley's, he should have the results by now. He sees that Greg isn't in the lab and goes off to find him. He finds him in the break room.

"Greg."

Greg looks up from the coffee machine where he was just about to pour him a cup, "Yeah?"

"Got the DNA results yet?"

"Yes actually, whoever that was is Riley's father. No question."

Gil looked at him, in a way he hoped he wasn't, but he wasn't surprised either that he was. He let out a deep breath of air, "Thanks Greg." He walks back to his office and sits down with his head back. _Shit, what am I going to do now. How am I going to tell him. Hey Riley I'm your dad. I'm getting another migraine. Cell phone number, he gave it to me._

He looks for it and finds it in his top drawer along with I bottle of his migraine pills. He swallows a couple of them and looks at the number on the paper. _What am I going to say? _He picks up his phone and dials the number. _Don't pick up, don't pick..._

"Hello, this is Riley."

Shit.

TBC...

A/N: So, what do you think so far?


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Yep, still not mine.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!!

"Uh, hey Riley" Gil says, not sure what else to say. _Why did he have to answer. What am I going to say._

"Hello?...Is this Mr. Grissom?"

Oh, how long have I just been thinking?, "Uh, yes, sorry, I was thinking."

"That's ok." He said while laughing, "So, what's goin' on?"

What to say, what to say, "Well, what are you doing?"

"To be honest, I'm at a hotel bar with a beer in my hand thinking about how my life sucks right now."

"Oh, are you staying at the hotel?"

"No, I just looked in my wallet to find only enough for the beer and _maybe_ a cab ride."

"You have no money in the bank?" _Why was he talking to him about this._

"Yeah, I do but it's in my moms account and she's the only one with the card and number. She was controlling, my mom, especially when it came to money."

Gil could hear the sadness in Riley's voice, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"It's ok. Um, what did you call for again?"

"Oh, I...I found something out about your father."

"Ok, do you want me to come back there?"

"Actually my shift is getting over so I was going to go home, and since you have no place to stay..."

"You offering for me to stay with you? Won't that...hell, I don't know, I mean you're working my case, it could look..."

"I'm off your case. I decided to focus on finding your father..."

"Oh, ok, did you find out who he is already?"

"Look, Riley, I don't want to talk about it over the phone. How bout I come get you and we talk at my house?"

"Sounds good."

"What hotel are you at?"

"I don't know. Hang on..." Gil hears him yelling at some guy in the background then, "I'm at the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino."

"No wonder you can't stay there."

"No kidding, it's like a fortune to stay one night. So, you on your way?"

"Yeah, I'll be there soon. I'll be driving a black Tahoe."

"Ok, see you soon."

They hang up and Gil looks at the phone, _that wasn't as bad as I thought, of course he still doesn't know I'm his dad yet. The Boardwalk, damn, no wonder he has just enough for a beer. _He gets up and leaves his office, locking it behind him. He goes out to his car and starts it up. _Here we go._

0000000000

Riley's leaning up against the hotel walk looking up at the sky. _What's Grissom up to? Letting me stay with him, who does that? I hardly know the guy. Maybe he's just a really nice guy, or feels sorry for me or maybe he's..._

"Hey Riley!"

"Mr. Grissom." Riley says startled out of his think. He looks around and doesn't see his car, "Where's your car?"

"I parked it, come on I'll buy you another beer."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm off duty and _really_ need a drink."

Riley just looks at him and shrugs, "Okay as long as you're buying them."

They walk back into the Boardwalk Hotel and to the bar area. They take a table in the corner looking out over the casino. Since it's still early in the morning, the place isn't packed just the usual dedicated gamblers. Riley and Gil both ask the waitress for a beer and wait in silence until she returns.

"So," Riley's the first to speak after the waitress gives them their drinks and leaves, "who's working my case now?"

Gil a little relieved that the first question wasn't the one he's been thinking about the whole car ride over here, "Sara Sidle and Catherine Willows. I heard you already meet Sara."

Riley laughs thinking about earlier this morning, "Man, I'm still embarrassed about that. You don't mind, do you?"

Mind, mind about what? Yeah, I was a little jealous about you staring at her, but hell any man would, "I don't mind that you were staring at her and embarrassed yourself." _I hope that came out right._

Riley just stares at Gil, _okay, apparently she didn't tell him I asked her out, I'm sure he would have mentioned that. If she isn't goin' to tell him, I sure as hell not goin' to. _"Good...so, can you tell me about my father now, or do we still have to wait until we get back to your place?" He takes a swing of his beer and waits for Grissom to answer, which he doesn't think he'll ever do.

Gil drinks down about half his beer and looks at the table. _Why can't this be easy, all I have to say is 'Riley I'm your dad.' But, I can't, not yet. _After what seems like an hour Gil finally lifts his head up and looks at Riley, "So, you're from Colorado, what's it like?"

"Cold. Why are you avoiding my question? Is he dead, alive, a serial killer you're chasing? I mean, I've been waiting my whole life to find out who he is and you're goin' to avoiding my question?"

Gil stares at him. _He's right. He's been waiting a long time for this and I'm afraid to give it to him. Not because of what he'll do. He'll probably get real happy about me being his dad. I'm the one who's scared. I've been in control all my life and I kept everything personal just that, personal, insolated. Now this guy shows up one day and changes my whole world around. I have to do this, but slowly. _"Do you know why I took myself off your case?"

"Yeah, to find my father."

"Well, that and the fact that I...knew the vic, your mom."

Riley looks at Grissom, confused. _What, why didn't he tell me that earlier. Why wait and tell me now..._Riley's eyes widen when he realizes what Grissom must be getting at. "Are you trying to tell me what I think you're trying to tell me?"

"If you think I'm trying to say I'm your dad, then yeah."

Riley's jaw was practically on the floor, "Oh, uh, hang on. I...I, what? Are you sure?"

Gil shakes his head yes, "I had my DNA compared to yours. I'm 99.9 percent sure I'm your dad."

"No wonder you invited me to your house. I was worried there for a minute."

"What are you implying? Can't a person just be nice."

"Yeah and that's what I was hoping for, just being nice. But now it's more than nice."

"What'd you mean?"

Riley's smile grows bigger as he looks over at Grissom, "I mean it's great. You're my dad. This is just...to wonderful."

Gil smiles at Riley's excitement, _well now I know he's happy about me being his dad. _"I'm glad you're happy, about this."

"Well, aren't you?" He still says with that huge smile on his face.

Gil doesn't know what to say. _Sure I'm happy, for you, but I don't know how to feel about this. I need to know more._ "So, tell me, what do you want out of this?"

"You mean, what I want from you." Gil just nods his head in agreement. "Well..." Riley thinks about this for awhile. "I know that we can't just you know, be father and son like that. I actually didn't know what to expect when I got here."

"What did you expect?"

"Um, something my mom said made me think my father, that you were...not interested in being...a father figure." _Damn that sounded bad._

Gil understands what he's getting at. When he and Anna were together he was hardly at home, he couldn't get close emotional because it hurt too much. How is he suppose to be a dad if he can't be emotional there for him, or there for that matter.

"Look, Mr., I mean Grissom, or Gil?" He starts laughing at himself, "What do I call you?"

Gil looks up at him after realizing he was looking at the table again, "Call me Gil, for now."

"Gil, I didn't mean for that to sound like you don't care. I know you do, who wouldn't. It's just that she told me things, but hell, I only believe half the stuff she tells me anyways. I caught her lying to me on more than one occasion, so I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even implied that..."

"No need to apologize Riley. She was right in a way."

"How so?"

"Well, I'm a very private person. I live a very solitary life. It's hard for me to just open up and let...people in."

Riley looks at him and nods in agreement and smiles, "Man, we're more alike then I thought we were. I thought I was the only hermit still living in America." He starts laughing. "I mean, everyone has secrets, some more than others."

"So you're ok with this." He's a little surprised.

"Hell yeah I'm ok with it. Look Gil, the only thing I'm expecting from you right now is friendship and a little...understanding. That's all I'm asking for until you, well, we feel comfortable moving forward." He starts laughing again.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just that, it sounds a little...weird, like we're in a relationship. People might get the wrong idea." He's still laughing, a little harder now. "I'm sorry, I think this beer's getting to me." He manages to say between his laughing.

Gil just sits and starts laughing with Riley, _it did sound a little funny. _"So," Gil finally says after they finish laughing, "ready to go to my place."

Again Riley can't hold back his laughter.

Gil realizing how that sounded again can't help but really laugh now, _that beer must be getting to me now._

"I think we should before these people started looking at us any crazier then they already are." Riley says and he stands up.

Gil and Riley head out to the parking garage where Gil parked his Tahoe. "Hey Gil."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks a lot. I really appreciate this."

"No problem."

They get into the car and head to Grissom's home.

00000000000

Catherine and Sara arrive at the Golden West Restaurant and Casino. They walk straight to the diner and bar and up to the bartender. Catherine's the first to speak, "Hello, we're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. We have some questions we'll like to ask about two customers you had last night."

The bartender looks up at them. "Oh yeah, what about?"

"Just information about what they did."

Sara took out a photo of Riley and his mother and showed it to the bartender.

"I remember them. The guy was hitting on one of my waitress."

"Which waitress, is she here now?" Sara ask the man.

"Yeah, Jamie Mitchell, she's at the end of the bar." He points down at the opposite end.

Sara and Catherine both walk down to her. "Hi, Jamie, we need to ask you questions about two customers." Sara says as she shows her the picture.

Jamie looks at the picture, "Yeah I remember him. Riley right, he was a charmer, even after I told him I had a boyfriend."

"He continued to make a pass at you even after you told him you were taken?" Sara asked a little surprised and curious.

Jamie starts laughing, "No, but was starting to hit on me and I told him I was with someone. Then he apologized, but he still talked to me about Vegas and myself, very sweet guy. He was plastered though. Then his mom came over and started ordering him around and yelling at him. He didn't seem to like that too much."

"What he do?"

"Nothing much really he kept trying to ignore her and continue talking to me. Then she said it was time to leave...and that's when she made the comment about me."

"Comment?"

"Yeah, I don't know what her problem was but she made some rude comment and that made he turn and went off on her. Then he turned back to me an apologized again, then he did the last thing I thought he'll do, he kissed me right on the mouth. Then they left."

Catherine and Sara looked at each other, then Catherine asked, "Why did he kiss you."

"I guess to get back at his mom for being rude to me. It worked too. She got so mad at him. And she wasn't the only one."

"You got mad too."

"No, I didn't mind. I thought it was funny, but my boyfriend was here and he didn't think it was. I looked over at him and thought he was going to kill that guy. I went over to him to try and calm him down when they were walking out but he was still furious when he left."

"When did he leave?"

"Just right after they did."

"Thanks," Sara said, "do you know where your boyfriend's at now?"

"Work."

"Where does he work at?"

"Why you want to know? Did he do anything?"

"That's what we need to find out."

"He works at the Ford car dealership just down the street. His name's Gary Gardiner."

"Thanks."

Catherine and Sara leave the hotel and head to the car dealership. When Sara finally spoke, "You think her boyfriend did it?"

"Seems likely. He was mad at Riley for kissing his girl."

"Yeah, but to kill his mom?"

"He might not have planned it that way. Wasn't Riley asleep in the back. Maybe Jamie's boyfriend didn't see him back there and decided to take it out on his mom. Things went to far, she ran, he chased her, she died."

They pulled into the parking lot of the dealership and park in front of the doors. They get out. They walked inside of the building and up to the desk. Catherine goes up the man standing there, "Is Gary Gardiner here?"

The man looks up, "That's me. How can I help you ladies."

"We're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. You mind telling us where you were last night, after you left the Golden West?"

Both Sara and Catherine noticed the sudden change on the man's face. He was now afraid. "Um...you, you want to know where I was?"

Catherine and Sara both nod, then Sara spoke to him with a smile on her face, "And after that you can give us your fingerprints and DNA."

The man felt trapped and scared, they had him and he knew it, "I didn't mean it. I was angry with her son I didn't mean to, to..."

"Kill her." Catherine said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, kill her."

Brass was waiting outside in the parking lot and turned around when Catherine, Sara, and Gary come out. "He confessed Jim." Catherine said walking up to him.

"We still need to process him and his truck just to make sure the evidence holds up, but with his confession, it's closed." Sara said as she walked up beside Catherine.

Brass arrested Gary and put him in the back of his car. While Sara went to his truck Catherine walked up to Gary and kneeled in front of him. "Gary, mind if I see your sole? Of your shoe?"

0000000000

Riley walks into Grissom's townhouse, Gil following close behind. He looks over the living room and walls, "Man, you must really like bugs."

Gil walks by him and into the kitchen, "I'm an Entomologist."

"That explains it." He says with a smile and walks around the living room. "You got a nice place. Very...is this your office or what?"

Gil looks out into the living room and sees Riley sitting on the couch laughing, "Yeah, it is."

"Workaholic huh? That's ok, so am I." He's still laughing a little.

"Can I get you anything?" Gil calls from the refrigerator.

"Aspirin and water." Riley says as he leans back on the couch and rubs his head.

Gil looks up from the fridge and gives him a look and smirk, "That bad huh?"

"Yes, I don't think this headache will ever go away."

"So," Gil says as he places a glass of water and the bottle of aspirin on the coffee table, "what's your secrets?"

Riley looks up at him, smiling, "I don't think so Gil. If your not sharing yours, I'm not sharing mine." He takes the bottle and gets two pills out and swallows them with the water.

"Come on, I want to get to know you at least a little."

Riley glares at him then stands up. Gil can see that Riley wasn't lying when he said he was the same as him. He didn't find this comfortable at all. "I didn't mean to make you...uncomfortable..."

"No, it's fine. I know I'll have to tell you sooner or later things about myself." He leans against the wall across from Gil. "If I tell you things about me, will you tell me things about you?"

Gil shifts in his seat and thinks a minute, "Sure." He finally says, a little reluctantly.

Riley rises an eyebrow at him and gives him a look. Gil laughs under his breath, because he knows that look, it's his look. "Are you sure?"

Gil still laughing under his breath, "Yeah, I'm sure."

Riley pushes himself away from the wall and walks around the room again, thinking. _What should I tell him...I'll just ask him what he wants to know. _"Is there anything specific you want to know?" He says stopping in front of the coffee table.

Gil thinks about the question, _obviously Riley is afraid of what to say, or what I'm going to find out about him,_ "Uh, tell me about your youth, growing up in Colorado."

I knew I should have just told him something, now I have to talk about the only part of my life I'll like to forget. He clears his throat and walks over to the couch and sits back down, "Ok," He turns to face Gil who still hasn't took his eyes off of him, "well, it was fine, at first. I was a happy-go-lucky kid." He says with a smile and laugh, "I got good grades in school and did everything I was told to do. Until my mom married this guy, Jake. He wasn't a nice guy and even a worse step-father. My grades slipped down, I wasn't happy any more and I rebelled every chance I got. I think that's why I started to get into forensics. I knew how much my mom hated what you liked, and I remember over hearing her talk about you."

"I thought you said you didn't know what I did for a living."

"I didn't, I thought it was just a hobby or something. She wasn't clear about a lot of things when she was talking to me or anyone else about you. Nothing was, specific, you know. Anyways, she was controlling, she wanted to control everything I did, said, and eventually will do. And Jake was fast to jump on in on that too, believe me."

Gil saw the pain and sadness in Riley's eyes when he said that. He didn't want to pry but if someone hurt him he wanted to know, his fatherly instincts were kicking in, "Did...he hurt you Riley?"

Riley stared into Gil's eyes, he could see the concern and it froze him. Nobody has ever cared about him, now here Gil was, his father, concerned about him, deeply. "Umm," He felt the tears in his eyes and tried desperately to not let them fall, but the lump in his throat didn't help him conceal his pain, "yeah, he did." He tried to clear his throat but that wasn't working. He picked up the glass of water and drank it down fast. He wanted to leave, to get up and run, but that wasn't going to happen so he settled on the next best thing and got up and walked around the room, again.

Gil put his head down when Riley stood up. He knew he caused Riley to feel that pain all over again and now he was sorry he asked, but he was his son and he wanted to know. That was probably the best kept secret of Riley's life and Gil was the first to hear it. He decided to do something he never thought in a million years he'll do, he was going let out one of his secrets. "Riley it's ok. There's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about."

Riley just leaned back on the wall again and hung his head, the tears were trying to break free.

Gil continued, "My father wasn't a nice man either. After he and my mom divorced I thought that was the end of it, me seeing him again. I was wrong, I seen him one more time after that." He took a breath and looked down at the floor, "I came home from school and I saw his car. I ran inside to see what he was doing there...I over heard him yelling at my mom and went to the door of the kitchen. He was yelling at her, but since she's deaf and he didn't bother to learn sign language he just go really angry and frustrated."

At this point Riley looked up and stared at Gil, his tear were already flowing down his face, but all he cared about was what happened to his dad, "Go on." was all he could manage to say.

Gil looked up for a moment then back down again, taking another deep breath, "I saw him...hit my mom. At that point I was furious with him and I ran in. I was only 12, I knew I couldn't hurt him, but I was to angry to think other wise. He seen me coming and that's when he hit me. I remembering think 'How can a man hit his own family?' but that wasn't the end of it. I laid there on the floor until he finally calmed down and got up off me. My mom couldn't do anything, she tried but he kept pushing and knocking her away. The last thing I remember is him walking away then my mom holding me in her arms crying. I woke up later at the hospital in so much pain, but all I could think about was how my mom was."

Riley was now sitting back on the couch, "How was she?"

Gil jumped a little, he hadn't realized that Riley sat back down again. He looked at Riley, "She was ok, nothing serious, just a bruise where he hit her." He let out a deep breath, "I never told anyone that before."

Riley smiled, "I never told anyone about me being hit before either."

Riley and Gil both shot up off the couch at the sound of something...ringing. They both let out a breath of relief when they realized it was the phone. "I think you better get that."

Gil picked up the phone and sat back down. "Grissom... Hey Cath, what's up?... Really he confessed, that's great. I'll let Riley know... Yeah, he's here, he has no place to stay so I offered... I'll talk to you about it later. Bye." He hung up and looked at Riley. "They got the guy."

Riley sat back down, "That's great. Who was it?"

"Some guy name Gary, his girlfriend worked at the Golden-West. She was a waitress there..." He stopped when he seen the look on Riley's face. "What?"

Riley looked away from him and put his head on the back of the couch, "It was my fault."

"What? What's your fault?"

Riley was crying now and he put his hands over his face, "Her boyfriend got mad at me because I was talking to his girlfriend. My mom, she came up and started yelling at me for talking to her and I got mad at her and to get her back at her, I kissed the waitress. I seen her with her boyfriend before I left, she was calming him down but he looked......oh my god, I got my mom killed."

Gil couldn't say anything, he just watched Riley sobbing into his hands. Then he was startled when Riley jumped up and ran to the bathroom down the hall. He heard the door slam, then silence.

TBC....


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** If you don't know by now, go back a page.

**Warning:** I forgot to do this a chapter before but it's better late then never. Anyways, reference to abuse, nothing major but does talk about it. I don't know the exact time to switch from PG-13 to R, so if you read and think it needs an R, let me know.

**Spoilers:** Again, none so far, but next chapter will have several.

**A/N:** Thanks again to those who have reviewed. Hope you all like the rest of the story.

Gil didn't know what to do. He could go in there and talk to Riley or stay here and wait for him to come out. He felt bad for the guilt that Riley was going through and it mad him feel sick. _It wasn't his fault, he's not responsible for the actions of others._ Gil keeps telling himself that over and over, but he needed to tell it to the person that needed to hear it. But he was stuck to his seat. Held there by the fear in his heart and mind. _What if I say something wrong. What if he wants to cry on my shoulder, will I let him?_ The what ifs were killing him and they weren't going to solve a thing. He had to go in there.

Gil finally got up off the couch. He stepped towards the bathroom then stopped. He turned to the kitchen instead. He got a glass of water and drunk and downed it quickly. He leaned against the counter for a minute. Then walked out of the kitchen and down the hall. The door to the bathroom was still closed. He rose his hand and knocked. No answer. He knocked a little louder.

"Come in." Riley finally said. Gil almost didn't hear him at first. It was so quiet.

Gil opened the door and looked in. Riley was sitting across from the sink, on the floor. His arms were wrapped around his legs and his head was resting on his knees. He didn't look up when Gil walked in or closed the door. Gil sat on the floor in front of the door and looked over at Riley then the floor. "Are you ok?"

Riley didn't answer he just shook his head no and remained still.

"Riley...it's not your fault. You had no idea what that guy was going to do. You can't blame yourself for the actions of others."

Riley still didn't look up. Gil didn't know what to do except just sit there with him. Several minutes passed until he heard Riley say anything, but it was so soft Gil didn't hear him. "What, Riley?" Gil said in the most softest tone. Then he heard him again, a little louder this time.

"It should have been me."

"Riley, don't say that."

"But it should have. I was the one he was mad at...and it wouldn't matter to anyone if I was dead anyways."

"It matters to me."

Riley looked up at Gil and stared at him. Gil couldn't help but feel the hurt and pain in Riley's eyes. "It does Riley. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm glad you're here."

"You're just saying that because you don't know me. If you did, you'll want me dead too."

Gil didn't know what to say. He was speechless. _What would make Riley think that it would be a good thing if he was dead? I hardly get some things people say and do, and this was completely beyond my understanding. What could possibly make him think this? _"What makes you think that even if I did know you that I'll agree that it would be better if you're dead?"

"Because, everybody else has said it."

"Said what?"

"That it'd be better for them if I was."

Gil couldn't believe his ears. _Did Anna say this to him, Jake._ "Who told you this?"

"My mom, Jake, even kids at school. I even thought about it myself."

Gil couldn't stand this any more. _My son's whole life has been filled with nothing but abuse, physically, mentally, emotionally. I wish I could do something to help him get rid of the pain. _"I, I don't know what to say except, no one deserves to be treated the way you have and I'm sorry."

Riley leans back and breathes in and out. He knows he should tell him something else, something that he'll find out anyways, but it's one of the reasons why his mom treated him like she did. He had another secret too, but that one was the worst and no one knew about it, not even his mother. The only other person that knew was the one that caused it. Riley looked back over at Gil. _I can trust him. He's my dad, and he trusted me with one of his secrets, and I trusted him with mine. There's just one more I'll like to reveal to him but no more, not now. This day has been filled with too much heart break already. _"Gil?" His voice was raspy and low almost a whisper.

Gil looked up from the floor he was staring at, "Yes."

Riley looked at him with despair in his eyes and hoped he wouldn't get mad, "I like to drink." _Okay, that didn't come out as planned...I can say the word can't I?_

Gil raised a eyebrow at him and smirked, "We all like to drink Riley."

Riley about laughed at that, but that's not what he meant, "No, I mean I like to drink...a lot. I'm an...alcoholic."

"What? You just turned 21 several months ago. How can you already be an alcoholic?"

"Because, I didn't start drinking at 21."

Gil was shocked, but not at all surprised. He'd seen many cases where the abused started drinking or doing drugs at a young age, he just had hope that Riley wasn't one of them. "How long?"

Riley shrugged. "As long as Jakes been hitting me."

"Drugs?"

Riley shook his head no. "Never, I don't smoke either. To...nasty."

Gil nodded. "I...understand, and Riley, I don't hate you for it. I'm glad you're honest with me."

Riley smiled at him then turned and looked at the wall again.

"Are you going to be okay?"

Riley nodded his head.

"Good, I have to get some sleep I have to work tonight. There's food in the fridge and cabinets. Just make whatever you want."

"Thanks again Gil." He said and turned back to him. "I, I'm glad we talked."

"So am I." He gets up off the floor and turns back to Riley, "Oh, and you can stay in my guest room, it's right across the hall."

"Thanks."

Gil leaves Riley alone in the bathroom. He goes to his room and closes his door behind him.

0000000000

Riley made him something to eat and sits down on the couch. He finds the remote under all the scattered papers and files and turns on the T.V_. Over a hundred channels and nothing on, what a surprise. _He looks at the clock, _2:40 in the afternoon,_ _what comes on at this time anyways? _Just then he feels a vibration on his leg, _cell phone._ He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the number, _who's this? _"Hello this is Riley."

"Riley, hi it's Sara."

Sara Sidle, "Hey Sara! What's up?"

"I wanted to go out before work but I have no one to go with, and..."

"I'll love to go with you. What were you thinking?"

"Just some place to get some food and a drink, nothing special."

Riley just laughed, "I get it, first date, a little nervous. Just want to hang out."

"You caught me. That's ok, isn't it?"

"It's fine. So, where at? I don't know where anything's at in Vegas so you'll have to give me directions."

"Ok, so where are you at"

"Henderson."

"Henderson, what you doing there?"

Should I tell her, no, Gil will probably want to do it in his own time...wait a minute. He told that Catherine person I was here. I'm sure he won't mind if I tell Sara, "I'm staying at...Mr. Grissom's house."

"Oh, what? Why?"

"I had nowhere to go, so he offered and I said yes. So, where's this restaurant at?"

"Wait, do you have a ride?"

"I can get a cab."

"How about I come get you?"

"You sure you want to drive all this way?"

"Yeah, no problem. I know a great place around there anyways."

"Ok, see you soon."

TBC...


	7. Chapter 7

****

Disclaimer: Not in a thousand years will CSI ever be mine.

****

Spoilers: Yes, the one where Gil turns down Sara's dinner invitation. (Sorry I can't remember the episode, but you all know what it is.)

****

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I like getting them. And Riley is harmless, he'll never hurt anyone intentionally, but himself...maybe.

"This is such a nice little joint. What's it called again?" Riley says as he and Sara take their seats at a table.

"The Willows of Henderson. The Desert Willow Golf Course is right over there." She points out the doors leading to the patio.

Riley turns his head to the left and looks out the doors. "How come we can't get a patio table?"

"They're always the first to get taken. First come first served."

"Well, as long as we have a seat, I don't care where it's at." Riley looks at her with a smile.

Sara smiles back at him then looks up at the waitress standing there. "What can I get you two?"

Sara already knows what she wants so she ordered first. The waitress turns to Riley who's still looking at the menu, "I'll have, the um...steak and the same soup she got, and...a beer." He gives the menu back to the waitress as she leaves. Riley looks over at Sara, "So, a vegetarian huh?"

Sara smiles at him, "How'd you know?"

"Cause nothing you ordered had anything to do with meat. You got soup, salad, and a...I don't know what kind of sandwich, but it wasn't turkey."

"At least you're a good observer then this morning. Hit any doors lately?" She says with a mocking smile.

"Low blow Miss Sidle. So, how'd you know about this place?"

"I've came here with Grissom before."

Riley was a little surprised, _maybe this two are good friends, _"Oh, good friends?"

Sara thinks about this before answering, "Use to be."

"Used to be?"

"Yeah, we use to be good friends, we even use to be just friends..."

"Not anymore, why?" Riley was genuinely curious, _what made them two not friends?_

They were interrupted suddenly by the waitress who gave them their drinks, Riley got a beer, while Sara got iced tea. They both said their "thank you" to the waitress. Then Riley turned back to Sara. "So...?"

Sara sat and thought for a moment, _do I really want to tell Riley this._

"Hey, Sara. If you don't want me to know that's fine. I was just curious as to what Gil could do to make you two not friends.

"How do you know that Grissom caused it?"

Riley looked at her blankly. _Why did I just insinuate that is was him?, _"I don't know, he's not a open guy so I just figured it was him." _That saved it, I think._

"It was both of us actually."

"What did you do?"

"I...asked him out."

Riley was taking a drink of his beer when she said that, and it almost ended up on her. He finally swallowed it but was choking.

"Are you ok Riley?" Sara saw that he was choking on his drink and got up to help. Riley waved her off as he stopped choking and got his breath back.

"You asked him out? What did he say?"

Sara sat back down, "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah, yeah. So..." He was really interested now. _Was she in love with my dad?_

"He said no."

Riley sat and looked at her. He knew he was in deep trouble now, especially if she loved him and he loved her. He had to know. "Um...do you...love him?"

Sara just sat there looking at him. She didn't know if she wanted to answer him or not. She decided not to. So she took a drink of her tea and looked at it. _This date was not going good at all._

Riley couldn't stop from looking at her. _Silence, the silent treatment, she loved him. Did he love her? _"Do you want to know my theory about love?"

Sara looked up at him, confused. _What? This could be amusing. _"Sure."

Riley took another drink of his beer and looked at it. "Love is like an addiction."

Sara smiled, _well he got that right._

Riley looked at her, "I'm serious. It can grab hold of you one day and not let go. But the difference between people in love and people who just have a crush, is the same as those people who are addicts and those who aren't."

Sara was actually interested in this now, she leaned forward, "How so?"

"Well, first off, addicts know how many drinks they need to get drunk, or buzzed, or to get them to wake up the next day and not remember a thing. Those who don't have a problem ignore how many beers it takes, and it doesn't matter to them anyways. Because no matter how much they drink it won't effect them later. They won't get depended on it. Now to the good part. People in love know that they need that person, that no matter what they do they'll always depend on them being there. Those who just have a crush, well, they can have it one day or another but in the end it won't matter. If that person leaves, oh well, they find something, or someone else. So, what I'm asking you is, Can you just get up and leave and find someone else without being dependent on Gil, or are you dependent on him. Do you need him?"

Sara sat there thinking about what Riley said. _Did she need Grissom? Is she addicted to him or can she just walk away...does she love him?_

Riley just smiles at her, "I hope that made some sense. But I have a good question for you. It'll help you figure this out. Can you call Grissom by his first name?"

Sara is knocked out of her thinking, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Riley takes another drink and looks at her, "I have always heard you call him Grissom, that's his last name. I've known him for not even a day and I call him Gil. Now, you've known him for, I don't know how long, and you still call him Grissom. This only shows one thing about you and that is, you are afraid of getting personal with him."

Sara was speechless, _me afraid of being personal with Grissom?, _"What? He's the one that can't be personal."

"Are you sure about that? You said you asked him out, you wanted to go on a date with him, but yet you can't call him by his first name. Does he call you by yours?"

Sara thinks about this, _Yeah, he does. _"Yes."

"And you wonder why he said no? If I was him, I'll think you just had a crush on me and why should I waste trying to get close to someone that I love to only get a broken heart when she finds someone else. Someone she's personal with and can call by their first name. You know Sara, we only meet today and you call me Riley."

Sara is shocked, she has never thought about this. She looked down at her hands and over at his. She noticed they were shacking a little. She looked up at him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He noticed his hands too and hoped she didn't but it was too late. "Look, I'll leave you alone with your thoughts. I have to go to the men's room, but when I get back, I want an answer. Then we'll come up with a plan." He stands up to leave but is stopped by Sara's hand.

"What plan?"

"If you love him, a plan to get you two together." He turns around and walks to the men's room leaving Sara at the table stunned.

Riley waked into the bathroom and went right to the sink. He splashed water on his face and looked into the mirror. _Calm down Riley, it's okay. It'll be okay. Who am I kidding, I'm an idiot. It should have been me out there in the desert. I'm such a waste of life. Damn it. Calm down, calm down... just take your medication and calm the hell down._ Riley looked down at his hands, they were shacking uncontrollability now. He had been diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder and Depression. Now at the worse possible moment it was taking over. He debated whether to take his pill or not because he'd been drinking, but he needed his shacks and his overwhelming thoughts of worthlessness to end. So he reached in his pocket and pulled out a small bag that held some of his pills. He always kept some with him at all times. He swallowed one of his pills and splashed his face again. _Calm down, calm down. Breathe Riley, breathe. _He got himself under control and dried his face and went back out to the table.

Sara saw him coming back and noticed his face_. _Riley sat down and picked up his drink. "You look stressed."

Riley took a sip and put it down and looked over at her. "I'm fine. I just have Anxiety and it just decided to show up."

"You need anything?"

"No, I took care of it. What's your answer?"

"Why are you so concerned about this?"

"Stalling. Okay, I'll play. I know what it's like to love someone and them not love you back, and vice versa. I also know that when two people meet and they both love each other that it's a shame when they don't embrace themselves in it."

"So, you're doing this because you can't standing seeing two people in love and them not doing anything about it?"

"Is that a confession?"

Sara looked at him and gave a nervous laugh, "How was that a confession?"

"You tell me."

Sara sat staring at him. _I'm not getting out of this one. _"No."

Riley got a huge grin on his face, "You love him. I knew it."

Sara gave a smile and looked down at the table. Just then the waitress walks up and places their orders in front of them. "Would that be all?"

"Yes." They both said in unison. The waitress walked off. Riley and Sara faced each other, both smiling at each other.

"I'm going to eat now. I want no more talking from you Riley."

Riley gave her a guilty look and answered her like a kid in trouble, "Yes ma'am."

0000000000

Riley looks over at Sara as they walk to her car. "So, are you going to tell him?"

"Tell who what?" Sara said as she unlocked her car.

"Tell Gil that you love him."

"What's it to you?" She gets in and unlocks Riley's side.

He opens the door and gets in. "Because, I have the right to know."

"How did that happen." She said not as a question but more of a statement.

Riley looked at her then out the windshield. _Should I tell her he's my father. No, Gil would want to do that himself. _ "I have my reasons."

Sara looks over at him then back to the road. "We'll be back at Grissom's in ten minutes."

Riley just shook his head, "I guess you're going to wait to call him by his first name when you two are together."

"Keep pressing your luck and you'll see where it gets you."

Riley just laughs and turns back to looking out his window.

Sara looked over at him. "You doing ok?"

Riley looked over at her. "Yeah, why?"

"You look horrible and you didn't eat hardly any of your food. How bad of Anxiety do you have anyways?"

"Nothing to be concerned about." He turned and looked back out the window. _You're such a liar._

000000000

Gil woke up out of his sleep by a very unfamiliar sound, his alarm clock. He rubs his eyes and looks at the clock. _It's 4:00. I can't believe I slept so late. _He rolls out of bed and goes into his bathroom and turns the shower water on. He goes to the guest room and opens the door slowly. _Riley's not here? _He goes into the living room and sees a note on the coffee table. 'Hey Gil, I went out for awhile. Be back sometime before you go to work. I had to leave the front door unlocked, sorry. Riley.' He crumples the paper up and throws it into the trash can. He walks into his kitchen and puts on some coffee then goes back to the bathroom and takes his shower. After his shower he goes back into the kitchen and fixes himself a cup of coffee and finds his paperwork. He wasn't five minutes into his work when his phone rang.

"Grissom."

"Grissom it's Sara." Her voice was full of fear and panic.

Gil straightened up in his seat at the sound of her voice. "Sara what's wrong?"

"It's Riley, we're at the hospital you've got to get here quick."

"What? What's he doing with you?" Gil was already up and sliding his shoes on and searching for his keys.

"We were out together. We were on our way back to your house then he just started to get dizzy and confused, then, then he just...Grissom he started shacking all over and then went unconscious." She was crying into the phone now.

Gil was already out the door and in his car by the time she finished. "Sara I'll be right there. I'm coming."

TBC.....


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Do I own CSI? Don't make me laugh, never ever will I own that show.

Spoilers: Season 3 and 4, various episodes. No specific mention, but it's implied.

A/N: Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing! The next chapter will be the last. Hope you enjoy this one.

Gil was at the hospital in less then ten minutes after leaving his house. He went right to the ER and was going to go to the nurses desk until he saw Sara down the hall sitting in the waiting room. He slowly walked over to her. He had to gather his nerves before talking to her. He sat down next to her. "You ok?"

Sara looked up at him and nodded her head. "I'm fine. Riley's....I don't know. The doctor hasn't been out here yet."

Gil leaned back and looked over at her. He had only one question on for her on his mind and he didn't know if this was the right time to ask it, but he needed to know. "So, why were you two out together?"

Sara lowered her head and looked down. She couldn't face Grissom. "I, he asked me out at the lab, after he ran into the door." Gil let out a little laugh and smirk. Sara looked up at him. "What?"

Gil smiled down at her. "You felt sorry for him and said yes, didn't you?"

She smiled back at him. "Yeah I did."

"So what happened? What caused this I mean?"

"He said he had Anxiety. I didn't know how bad it was..."

Sara was cut off by the doctor that walked up to them. "Hi, I'm Doctor Murray. You brought Mr. Davis in right?"

Sara and Gil both stood up and looked at the doctor. Sara nodded her head and looked down the hall to the room he was in. "Is he ok?"

"He's going to be fine. He suffered from a serious drug reaction. We found a small bag of Parnate pills in his pocket. Does he have Depression?"

Sara and Gil both looked at each other. Sara turned back to the Doctor, "He said he had Anxiety. I know nothing about him, we just meet."

"Does he have family I can talk to?"

Sara shakes her hand, "Not that I..."

She was stopped by Grissom who spoke, "I'm his father. Gil Grissom." Gil didn't turn to face Sara who was staring at his, speechless.

"Is there anything you can tell me about him Mr. Grissom."

"Uh, I just meet him yesterday. I didn't know he was my son until today. I do know that he suffered from abuse when he was young and he's also an alcoholic. He told me that today. His mother just died and he was going through a lot of stress and grief. I wouldn't be surprised if he was depressed. Did the drug do this to him?"

"Yes. Parnate is a prescription drug that's for people who suffer from Manic Depression and Anxiety. People on this medication aren't suppose to drink any alcoholic beverages with it. Apparently that's what he did. It caused some side effects which made him go unconscious. He's lucky though, he only took 15 milligrams, if he would have taken 30, which is the required dosage, he won't have survived."

"Thank you Doctor Murray. When can I see him?"

"We're going to take him to the ICU. When we get him settled in there we'll let you see him."

Gil nodded. Sara still hadn't looked away from Grissom and he just now noticed this. He couldn't face her either. He walked back over to the chair he was in and sat down. Sara followed and sat beside him. She finally turned to face him, "He's...your son?"

Gil looked over at her. He looked...scared. "Yeah, I am. I was going to wait and tell everyone in my own time, I wasn't expecting this."

Sara smirked, "Neither did I."

They both sat the rest of the time in silence while they waited for Riley to be transferred to the ICU. They took the elevator to the fourth floor and walked down the hall to his room. When they got there Gil looked at his watch and turned to Sara. "Hey, it's almost time for work. You should go."

"Are you sure." She was worried about him.

"Yeah. Thanks for staying here with me. But I want to talk to him. Tell everyone that I'll be there as soon as possible. Catherine's in charge until I get there."

"Ok, do you want to wait to tell them about Riley yourself?"

"Yeah, just tell them I had an emergency. I'll let them all know what's going on when I get there."

"Alright. Tell Riley I'm sorry and hope he gets better. See you soon, Grissom."

Gil watches her leave then turns around and walks into the room. Riley's hooked up with IV's and a heart monitor. Gil walks over to a chair beside the bed and sits down. It wasn't long until Riley opened his eyes and looked at Gil. There was only one thing Gil could think of to say to him. "Why? Riley, why did you do this?"

Riley rolled his head and looks up at the ceiling. His voice was hoarse and dry. "You sound like I did this intentionally."

"Was it?"

Riley turned to look back at him. "Yes. I consciously took it knowing damn well that it might hurt me because I was drinking. I didn't think that it'll land me in the ER though. But if you're asking me if I was trying to kill myself, no, I wasn't."

Gil looked down at the floor. "Are you...lying to me?" He looked back up at Riley.

Riley shook his head again. "No."

Gil looked at him, his face was getting tight and he was trying to hold back the lump in his throat before he spoke again. "How can I believe that."

Riley looked at the ceiling again. _How can he be so worried about me? He barely knows me._ "Some secrets can't be hidden for too long Gil. Especially if they affect the way you live, think, act. It's too crucial to your life, whether it's being manic depressive or," He turns to face Gil, "madly in love. Then one day you realize that what you thought you could control or ignore just destroyed your whole life. It destroyed mine. Did it destroy yours?"

Gil sat back and stared at Riley. _What is he getting at? Madly in love...is he talking about me._ "Are you talking about me Riley?"

"Yes. When are you going to let your secrets known Gil? When they destroy you."

Gil didn't know what to say. _He's definitely been talking to Sara. _"Who do you think I love?"

Riley shrugged, "I know who loves you. But do you love her?"

Gil sat and contemplated this. Then he gave in. "I thought I did."

"You don't anymore?"

"It's complicated. I did, but then I realized she didn't understand me."

"You know this for a fact?"

"Yeah, I do. Things she said and did, they just proved to me what I already thought, that she wouldn't be happy with me because she didn't want to try to really know me."

"She can't be personal with you."

"I guess you can put it that way."

"But...you do love somebody."

"How'd you know that?"

Riley laughed, "I've got a sixth sense for these things, and I'm double majoring in Psychology. I'm good at reading people."

"You're a Psych. major and you're an addict. How does that work?"

"Simple," Riley grinned, "I was an addict before I was a Psych. major." Gil just shook his head. "Are you, mad at me?"

Gil got a serious look on his face, "No, I'm not mad. I'm worried and a little fearful for you, but I'm not mad at you."

"Why? Most people would be."

"Most people you know. Riley, there's something you have to know about me. I'm not like anyone you've ever known."

That got a laugh out of Riley, "Yeah, I could already see that. But, seriously, why aren't you upset?"

"I guess I can understand. I don't judge people on things they can't control, especially if it was caused by someone else. As for you, I don't judge you for being addicted to alcohol or being depressed. These things aren't controllable, but they can be if you had help and support. Something I suspect you haven't gotten in the past."

"You got that right."

"I'm willing to help you Riley. Not just from obligation, but...because I want to."

"I've never had anyone care about me like this before...it's, uncomfortable."

Gil laughed, "I know the feeling. That's one of the reasons that I knew this someone else loves me back."

Riley raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?"

"She was there for me when I needed her. She's always there for me I guess, no matter what. And I want to be there for her too."

"Why don't you tell her?"

"I'm too afraid."

"Of what?"

"Not being alone anymore."

"That's nothing to be afraid of."

"It is when you're afraid that once you lose that silence, you're scared of ever having it returned."

"So, you're more afraid of losing her once she's in, then you are of never having her at all. That's no way to live Gil."

"It is if you're me."

"Better to never love at all, then to have love and lost....damn, I think you need some medication."

Gil laughed under his breath, "I'm fine, and so will you. Once you get out of here I want to help you get your life back together."

"What for. I already ruined my chance of being a CSI."

"Says who?"

"Um, the law. I can't be arrested for anything. I got arrested for PI remember."

"What? That? The officer dropped the PI charge and didn't file the report."

"What...why?"

"Because, it was a false arrest. You walked 7 miles to get help in finding your mom, who was..."

"You can say it, murdered."

"Who was murdered, the charge was dropped and plus the fact that you helped me and Captain Brass find the man who did it, we made sure he dropped it."

"I didn't want favors Gil..."

"It's not a favor. We do it all the time and at the time we did it, I had no idea you were my son. So, see, no favoritism involved."

"I...I don't know what to say except, thank you."

"No problem. Look Riley I have to go. I got to get to work. You need to rest and get your strength back up. I'll be back after shift to pick you up." He gets up and starts to leave.

"Could you bring my bag with you. I'm sure that since the case is over I can get my bags and car back."

Gil stops at the door and looks back at him. "Oh, yeah. Um, I'll bring your bag and I'll get your car towed to my house. That way it'll be there..."

"You're still going to let me stay with you?" Riley said, utterly confused.

"Well of course. See you later." He walks out the room.

Riley stares at the door and he lets out the tears he has been holding for a while. _I've been waiting my whole life to find someone that cares about me and I finally did...my dad._


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: CSI is not mine. And I don't own IHOP either, I just love to eat there.

Spoilers: The Strip Strangler episode. Lady Heather's Box episode...and implied season 4. That's about it.

A/N: This is the last chapter. Hope everyone has enjoyed reading my story. And this won't be the last story I write with Riley Davis, I plan on continuing this sometime.

"So what's this page about? We were all about ready to go home." Nick was the first to speak while everyone was taking their seats around the room.

Gil was leaning against the door frame watching everyone. "I tell you after everyone gets here."

Catherine then spoke up, "Who are we wanting for?"

"Greg and Brass aren't here yet."

The other CSI's looked around at each other. They had no idea what was going on, except for one, Sara already knew. Greg and Brass finally filed into the room. Greg sat down next to Sara while Brass just stood by Grissom. "So why do you need me here?"

"Because Jim, you're my friend and I want you and everybody to hear this from me."

That got everyone's attention. What was the big announcement.

"It isn't budget cuts, is it?" Warrick finally got in on the conversation.

Everyone one let out a small laugh and sigh when Gil said "No."

"Thank you."

Gil cleared his throat and began to tell them the reason he paged all of them. "Ok. Warrick and Nick or the only one's not in the loop out yesterday. Or have any of you told them."

They looked around at each other, then Nick gave the answer, "Are you talking about the case from last night? Yeah, we know. Catherine gave us the run down of it. Murdered woman, son was a suspect, guy who did it confessed. Wish that was the case for my db case I got."

Gil smiled and nodded at him, "Good, so I don't have to explain that part. The son of the victim was here to find his father, that's one of the reason why he was here. And it just so happened that I knew the victim. We were together for a while."

Greg couldn't help but comment, "Oh, so you do have a personal life."

"Can it Greg."

"Sorry."

"Anyways...since I knew the victim and the time of our dating and the age of her son I ran my DNA to compare with his."

Catherine, who already knew about some of this, decided to ask the big question, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What a minute Gil, are you trying to say that it was a match."

"Yeah, I am."

Everyone around the table turned and faced each other with open mouths and "Oh wow." stares, well everyone except Sara.

"So, where is he now?"

Gil didn't want to tell them what happened earlier today, best keep that a secret from just about everyone too, "He's...resting. He's been through a lot already."

Nick questioned Grissom again. "Is he staying with you?"

"Yes. I don't know how long but he'll stay with me until he is good enough to be out on his own. Well, that's all I wanted to tell everyone. So if you see him here sometime you'll know who he is. And I guess in the future you might be seeing a lot of him."

Sara, Catherine and Brass both knew what Gil means, they all know that Riley's studying to be a CSI. But Nick, Warrick, and Greg are confused. "What you mean?" Greg was the first to ask.

"He's studying to be a forensic scientist."

"Apple doesn't fall far from the tree does it?" Warrick said with a smile. "If he's anything like you. He have us running."

They all laughed. Brass patted Gil on the back. "I've got to go. Thanks for telling me and good luck with this. I still can't picture you as a dad Gil."

"I know. Me neither, but I think I'll do okay."

Brass walked away back to his office then eventually home. Gil turned back to the CSI's in the room. "Well, I guess you all can leave now. I'll be in my office for a while if anyone needs anything." He stops and turns back around. "I forgot to ask. Greg how was your first time out alone?"

Greg turned to him with a smile on his face, "It was great. Catherine gave me hit and run. We found the guy just before you called us back here."

"That's great. Good job, everyone."

Gil turns and walks down to his office. It wasn't long until Sara came in and sat down across from him. "So, how's he doing?"

Gil looks up from his paperwork and smiles at her. "He's doing good. I think he'll be fine once he gets in some treatment."

"You're going to help him?"

"Of course I am. What kind of dad would I be if I didn't."

Sara smiled at him an nodded. She looked down at the floor then back up to him, he was still looking at her. "I...I want to apologize."

Gil got confused, _what does she need to apologize for._ "For what?"

"For my behavior over the last year. I let myself think that everything that was going on was personal and it wasn't. I just want to apologize." She got up and went to leave then turned back. "And that I'm sorry for putting you into a lot of positions that I got you into. I just want to know if we can be friends again?"

Gil gave her and smile and nodded his head, "I wouldn't want it any other way."

She got up to leave but Gil's voice stopped her in her at the door.

"Are you going to be happy Sara?"

Sara turned back around and looked at him. He obviously knew what she was trying to say and she was a little amazed. She thought about the question and gave him her "Sara smile", "Yes. Yes I am. See you tonight Grissom." She walked out the door and down the hall passing Catherine on her way to the locker room.

Catherine came in to Gil's office and sat down in the seat Sara was just in and looked at Gil who was still looking out the door. "You ok?"

Gil looked at her and smiled, "I'm great. How are you?"

"I'm good. Do you need to talk about anything?"

"No. But I was thinking that I miss hanging out with my team. How about after tomorrow's shift we all go and get breakfast together, I can bring Riley along."

"That sounds great. We haven't done that in a long time. Not since what...the Strip Strangler case?"

"Has it been that long? Well, it won't be that long again until our next one, I really do miss spending time with you guys."

"I know. I'm just glad this tension around here is finally stopping. One more day of that and thought about quitting."

Gil smirked and half laughed at that. "And that would have been a tragedy. I wouldn't know what I'll do around here with out you." He said half kidding, half not.

"Laugh it up funny man. So, I'm ready to go home. Lindsey's waiting on me." Catherine gets up.

"How are you two doing?"

"Good. She miss having you over for dinner."

"Maybe I'll come by again sometime."

"That'll be great. Lindsey will be so happy. Tonight?"

"No, I have to do some things. I'll let you know when though."

"Ok, goodnight Gil." Catherine turns and walks out of his office.

"Goodnight Catherine."

00000000000

"Are you ready to go?"

Riley looks up and sees Gil standing in the doorway. "They're letting me leave already?"

"Yeah, you are officially discharged from this hospital."

"About time."

"Here." Gil holds up his bag and walks to his bed. "You can change clothes. I'll be waiting in the hall."

"Thanks. I'll be out in a minute." He climbs out of bed and changes.

Gils waiting in the hall leaning against the wall next to his door. Riley walks out and places his hand on Gil's shoulder. "Ready?"

"Yep. So, how was your stay?" He said smiling at Riley.

"It sucked...a lot." Riley looked over at Gil laughing a little.

"You hungry?"

"I'm starving. What you have in mind?"

"Breakfast and I know the perfect place."

"It's not The Willows of Henderson is it?"

"No. How you know about...Sara took you there."

"Yeah, they have some good steak."

"One of the best. I love the scenery too."

"Great scenery, makes you want to take up golf."

Gil laughs. "Yeah, it kind of does. But I'm in the mood for some good pancakes."

"Is there an IHOP around here?"

"I believe there is."

"They have great pancakes and coffee."

"Wonderful coffee."

They walk together out of the hospital and to Gil's Tahoe. They get in and Gil heads for the nearest IHOP.

"So, I was thinking I can start doing other things to release my stress besides drinking. What do you do?"

"Me...I ride roller coasters."

"Really? I've never been."

"What? You've never rode a roller coaster."

"No. I haven't done a lot of things."

Gil turns at the next light suddenly and goes in a different direction.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm going to take you to a place where you can ride one. Then we'll eat."


End file.
